magitech: Snape's existence certainly didn't help Petunia's attitude towards magic, though I suspect she'd have ended up on strained terms with Lily even had he not been there. Decent people would not treat their nephews the way she did, regardless of what may have happened.
Guest: Thanks for the review!
The Page's the Thing
March 15th, 1982
Lupin stared at the book with trepidation. "Such a small thing…do you really this is so important?" The book gave of an aura of irrelevance and normality, seeming for all the world to be a normal, regular, artifact. If it was not for the results of the Professor's spellwork surrounding it, he would not have noticed it. "Would You-Know-Who really put such importance on this?"
"I do." Dumbledore confirmed, "And I believe he would. As history tells us, it's often the seemingly small things that can have the biggest impacts: a single stone can set off a landslide, a small breeze can call down a hurricane. Many a wizard or witch has stumbled because they overlooked something…small." For a moment he sounded every inch his age, his mind a thousand miles away.
From the corner wherein he was standing, slouched against a wall, Severus scowled at the two of them. "Are you referring to yourself?" he snarked.
Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling – "Absolutely!"
The three of them – along with Lily and Potter – were stood around in the Professor's office, a warm cluttered room hidden away in a spire of Gryffindor Tower. Severus' inner Slytherin was throwing a tantrum at being so close to the 'enemy's' dorm, or perhaps that was just his acrophobia playing up – there was a good reason he'd never liked astronomy. Heights disagreed with his stomach. Various books and instruments littered the oak tables, many of them unidentifiable to the former Death Eater despite the breadth of his own knowledge. Judging by the number, and the fact that the room looked even more disorganised than usual, he felt it safe to assume Dumbledore had been busy.
And considering that the Professor was clearly concerned despite his usual performance, he found it safe to assume that Dumbledore had not found whatever answers he was looking for.
The man in question was sat behind his desk, one hand idly stroking through his long white beard while the other rifled through a small blue diary, the cover decorated with various rectangular patterns. His eyes were flicking wildly, scanning the pages for a moment before moving on. Potter stood next to him, scowling heavily. He too scanned the pages, eyes flickering, and occasionally would let out a sound of interest or disinterest. The werewolf stood at the other end of the office from Severus, who was content to leave it that way. Black had not made an appearance, for which the former Death Eater was downright grateful – Potter had muttered something about a bar to the Headmaster, which fitted Severus's impression of the man.
At the other end of the room, Lily circled around a large oak table with her wand outstretched, occasionally muttering the details of a spell, or prodding at something on the table. Atop the oak surface before her Dumbledore had laid a rough circle made from a collection of powders, one of which Severus had been able to identify as salt. He could also taste a metallic tang upon the air, so perhaps iron was involved as well. Truth be told, he had examined the display quite closely before the others had arrived, though he would not deign to show such curiosity now.
In the centre of the circle, a small black book with brass corners lay frozen in time, its cover caught halfway through smouldering. Despite the fire now streaking off it, a small part of the golden lettering on the cover could still be seen though the flames – RIDDLE.
Severus did not know the origin of the book or the word 'Riddle' beyond the fact that it was connected to the Dark Lord, but even looking at it rose goosebumps on his skin and made his hair stand on end. The entire thing reeked of dark magic. Even standing on the other side of the room, Severus could feel it.
Judging by the reactions of Potter and Lupin, they could not feel it – though Potter looked a bit peaky – but Lily clearly could, judging by the way she kept her distance. Severus felt oddly proud that she clearly remembered some of the things he'd said while at school, though that sense of pride was quickly replaced by bitterness.
"Mudblood."
Potter pointed at something in the blue diary; "What does he mean here? 'Green Rings forward, Yellow Rings back?"
"I'm afraid…I do not know" Dumbledore replied, "The writer of this diary, while brilliant, was shall we say mad. While I have browsed its contents before, I could not make much headway – it was only due to the particular nature of the charms needed here that I have dug it out again, in hope of a little wisdom."
"I don't suppose he's alive to ask?" Potter queried.
"Sadly not" Dumbledore responded, "He passed away during a stay in Azkaban, where he was sent after having intimate relations with a…well, best not to say. This diary is all that survives of his learnings." Severus could have sworn that he saw the Headmaster mutter something under his breath, though Potter seemed not to notice.
There was a cough from the other side of the room. Having finished whatever assessment she was carrying out, Lily had joined the rest of the party. "It all seems to be in order, Professor" she said, gesturing with her wand; "The charms you cast were already doing an excellent job, all I was able to contribute were a few spells to hold up the corners."
"Nonetheless, your aid is appreciated" Dumbledore replied, "Getting a second opinion is always advisable, as Minerva keeps telling me. And your ability with charms is exceptional, as Filius often regaled to me."
Lily blushed.
The werewolf extracted himself from his corner, wandering over to peer at the burning book with his own eyes. "So, you say it burst into flames without warning Professor?" he asked, "Could it have been some kind of self-destruct charm, set off by examining it?"
"James and I examined it at home without that sort of reaction" Lily said, before Dumbledore could speak; "And we were not gentle with the thing, not that any of the spells ended up doing anything."
Lupin mused "Then what could have done it – being moved to Hogwarts? It wouldn't hardly be beyond a wizard of You-Know-Who's power to set up a sensor charm on a single object – I mean, we did it on an entire building." He nodded at Potter. "And he'd certainly have reason, if the book is important." He nodded at Dumbledore.
Severus was curious, despite his best attempts. What could they have needed a sensor charm for?
Potter coughed; "I'd prefer to keep the map quiet Remus if you don't mind, considering current company." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, looking incredibly amused and not at all concerned.
Feeling a bit left out, Severus made himself known. "Some scheme of yours, Potter?" he questioned, not quite glaring at the man in question.
Potter sighed. "It happened years ago" he said, "It doesn't matter now." He smirked, which only served to infuriate Severus. "Besides which, Sirius lost it."
At the mention of Black, Lily interrupted them. "Where even is Sirius?" she questioned, "I distinctly remember him saying he would be here."
"Muggle London" Lupin replied, "…he probably got held up."
"Really?" said Potter, exasperated; "He's picking now as a good time to re-enter the dating scene?!"
Under her breath, Lily muttered something about a "Marlene". Judging from the way her jaw had set, Severus knew she disapproved of something, though he knew not what.
Lupin tried to appease the two of them; "It has been four months since You-Know-Who got kebabbed."
"And there's been no sign of him since, which only makes me more worried!" Potter growled, "Who knows what he's planning?! He'll still want to kill Harry and now he'll have a personal vendetta against Lily and I to boot. Especially after the Lestranges got themselves killed!" Severus recognised the tone of voice he was using and sneered.
Lily placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, at which he visibly deflated. "James, I'm as worried as you about him, but that's no reason to shout at Remus."
Potter looked regretful. "You're right. Sorry, Remus. The stress of this whole thing got to me for a moment, but I shouldn't take it out on you. I'm sorry."
"It's okay" Lupin said, more bemused than anything; "The Death Eaters have been rather quiet recently."
"I think 'absent' might be a better description than 'quiet'" stated Dumbledore, from behind his desk. "Voldemort is not the kind of man to set up an organisation that could run without him, he is far too paranoid and arrogant for that. Him being removed meant that the Death Eaters were left headless in an instant, with no witch or wizard capable of moving into Voldemort's shoes."
"I imagine it doesn't help that most of them are at the mercy of the Dementors" Severus spat, "Aside from the few Potter let off."
"That was hardly my decision!" Potter bitterly replied, rounding on Severus; "All I did was refrain from lambasting them to the papers. I had no choice in the matter, we wouldn't have the diary otherwise."
"Why didn't you betray Lucius the moment you had the diary?" Severus questioned, gleefully; "One would think you would look forward to stabbing someone in the back?"
"Malfoy isn't stupid enough to fall for that" growled Potter, "Staggering the returns on his side of the deal ensured I would stick to my side. I didn't want Remus suffering for his you-know-what. And Peter is still out there." His eyes narrowed. "And you're not the man to criticise me for letting a few Death Eaters go, since might I remind you that you were one of them!" He scowled at Severus from across the room, fists clenched at his sides.
Before the former Death Eater could deliver another cutting remark in response, Dumbledore coughed.
"I have actually formulated a theory on what has become of Voldemort, if you would be interested to hear it?" said the Professor, using a slightly sterner tone of voice that most of the group remembered from their time at Hogwarts.
"Yes" replied Lily, taking her husband by the hand and dragging him away from Severus. Potter allowed her to do so, though his other fist was still clenched. Lupin moved back towards the group, leaving the diary to burn for the time being.
Dumbledore leaned forward, setting the blue book to one side. "I now theorise that Voldemort's defeat at James' hands forced him out of his original body" he said, "Something undoubtably reinforced by Milicent ordering the cadaver cremated in short order. Previously I believed that he was 'not in existence' and would remain that way until such as time as a follower or his own plans saw him resurrected. But conversations with Severus, along my examinations of his Mark and the diary James retrieved have corrected that assumption."
The only former Death Eater in the room certainly did not rub his arm subconsciously.
"If his spirit is out there, what does that mean?" Potter asked, "Surely we would have noticed if he'd become a…sorta-ghost."
Lupin looked nervous. "Could he contact his followers?" he pondered, "We never did get to question Bellatrix or Rodolphus, and Rabastan made no sense at all once they revived him."
Dumbledore tented his fingers. "I expect that the answer is no, for at least the present. The stress of being expelled from his body must have rendered him unable to interact with the physical world or even communicate. It cannot be an easy thing to be deprived of a body, to be formless, presence-less; even if he recovers some of his strength in time, it will take…well, time. Several years at the least. One is almost tempted to reference Tolkien."
"Who?" Potter was confused, as usual.
"I'll explain later" said Lily, forestalling any diversion of the night's topic.
Severus incidentally did know who Tolkien was, though had never liked his works after an unflattering comparison to Shelob.
"I have not felt him try to communicate" admitted the former Death Eater, "And I doubt any of the…others have, either. Bellatrix would never have thrown anyway her life if she could hear him. And Lucius would not have dared give up…that." He gestured at the diary.
"What is it?"
Lupin had spoken the question, though they were all thinking it. The diary blazed away atop the table, frozen flames streaking off blackening pages in front of all their eyes.
"There are several possibilities" replied Dumbledore "One of which is, incidentally, it being a trick. I have heard of such things before, and Voldemort may be cunning enough – and paranoid enough – to try such a thing."
"But you don't think that is the case here" Lily stated, and Severus knew that she was certain in her statement."
"No."
"Which would point towards the book being some sort of anchor" Lily continued, "An object designed to tie him to the Earth. There are legends of such things – a set of books I ordered a few days ago spoke about a few. Phylacteries, crowns of stars, will-jars, horcruxes, stays…"
"We can discount a phylactery" Potter said. In response to his wife's look he elaborated; "They've never worked! Every fairy-tale agrees on that."
Lupin cut in; "And besides which, it isn't a jar of dirt. Or 'being' or blood or whatever, depending on which version you've heard. Surely, you've heard at least one?"
"Muggleborn, remember?" Lily replied, hands on her hips, looking distinctly unimpressed.
"…sorry" Lupin mumbled, looking exceedingly embarrassed.
"It clearly isn't a crown, so we can reject that one too" Severus interrupted. "Which leaves the others you mentioned and a good hundred you haven't. Assuming you're right-" He gestured at the Professor; "-And it isn't a trick. Maybe Flamel smuggled him some elixir for all we know."
"Nicholas certainly did not do that" stated Dumbledore, very firmly; "And Voldemort is not clever enough to make his own stone. As for the actual possibilities, I require more time to investigate. I was able to glean quite a bit from the diary before it tried to destroy itself, which has provided some idea of where we might look."
"From the diary?" Severus questioned.
"I wrote in it" said the Headmaster; "And it wrote back. Whatever the diary was, it was very intelligent. Not a lot of power, for it was confined entirely within the book, but a dark intelligence. And behind every word was Voldemort's will, though I do not believe it was him answering. It was missing enough details to date its creation back to before the war, since the concept of the Dark Mark was alien to it." He leaned back in his chair. "Unfortunately, I believe I was over-curious – it recognised me and immediately activated the spell you see before you. All I could was pause it in time, and that spell will wear off within the month. We will not be back at stage one, but it will hold up affairs."
"I don't suppose the book the only one of its type?" said Lupin, not sounding remotely confident.
"That would be too easy" replied Severus, though they all thinking it.
Lily moved towards the diary, staring at the golden lettering on the blazing cover. "Riddle…what does that mean?"
"Lord Voldemort's birth name was Tom Riddle" replied Dumbledore.
"No wonder he ended up becoming a Dark Lord with a name like that!" Potter said, "What was him middle name, 'suspicious'?"
"Marvolo."
"Even worse."
Lily was still staring at the diary. Potter and Lupin moved to stand by her side, their faces illuminated by the flames. Severus was tempted for a moment to join them, to join her, but refrained. Dumbledore had returned to his own book, thumbing through the remaining pages but finding nothing.
"The 'anchors' fell into two categories" Lily half-muttered, "Those containing a part of the being – usually the soul – and those containing an artificial link to the person. I don't suppose…"
"You-Know-Who doesn't seem the type to hand over part of himself to the Malfoys" said Lupin, "That'd risk them having power over him and he'd never accept that."
"No" Dumbledore agreed, "He isn't."
'THE SPRINGS OF SUMMER' DELAYED YET AGAIN: JORGE H MARTINEZ DEFENDS DECISION!
THE THIEF OF SALISBURY STRIKES AGAIN!
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